Ocean governance

Ocean governance is the conduct of the policy, actions and affairs regarding the world's oceans. Within governance, it incorporates the influence of non-state actors, i.e. stakeholders, NGOs and so forth, therefore the state is not the only acting power in policy making. However, in terms of the ocean, this is a complex issue because it is a commons that is not ‘owned’ by any single nation/state. The consequences of this has resulted in humankind abusing the oceans’ resources, by treating them as shared resources, but not taking equal and collective responsibilities in caring for them. This means that rules on the conduct of the ocean can only be implemented through international agreements. Therefore, there is a need for some form of governance to maintain the ocean for its various uses, preferably in a sustainable manner.

There are two major international legal organisations that exist that are involved in ocean governance on a global scale. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), which was ratified in 1958 is responsible mainly for maritime safety, liability and compensation and they have held some conventions on marine pollution related to shipping incidents.

The IMO sees the regulation of marine pollution as one its most important aspects of governance and in particular, the MARPOL convention is regarded as one of its greatest successes. The result of MARPOL has meant that oil pollution has decreased due to a change in equipment standards of oil tankers to prevent operational discharge of oil. However, the main organisation concerned with the economic, environmental, ethical, peace and security issues is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

It was first established under the Third UNCLOS in 1973 and fully ratified in 1982. The main aim was to adopt a regime of national seas and international waters on a global scale. What was agreed was that the jurisdictional boundaries of individual states were to be enlarged to 200 nautical miles off a state’s coastline. Coastal states were given greater rights to control these areas for protective purposes and the exploitation of natural resources. In total 38 million square nautical miles of ocean space was put under jurisdiction under the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and the legalities concerning the continental shelf and territorial sea were altered.

However, the Convention did not come into full effect despite a number of implementations being carried out between 1973 and 1982. This was profoundly due to a dispute over mineral resources, particularly manganese nodules in the deep-oceans. Developing countries preferred treating these minerals as “common heritage,” that via an international organisation, they could benefit from a sharing of these resources. However, the developed world, in particular the United States, was not in favour of this and preferring a first-come, first-served basis, due to self-economic interest. Only in 1994 did the United States renounce their objections so that the Convention could be enacted.

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